ARTS PREVIEW: A sizzling summer full of art, dance, theater, music, comedy and more

Wednesday

May 9, 2018 at 7:22 PMMay 10, 2018 at 5:45 PM

Boston’s summer scene is already starting to heat up, so we’re marking our calendars to make sure we have a plan to see some of the region’s top music, theater, art and dance this season. Get your own party started with the list below, and be sure to check out the calendar on our website to find more of the season’s best events at http://www.wickedlocal.com/calendar - NANCY OLESIN

Rainbow bright

Comedian, actor and internet sensation Randy Rainbow is the guest of honor at the 36th annual Elliot Norton Awards May 21 at the Huntington Avenue Theatre. The sassy New Yorker is best known for his irreverent Youtube videos including “Sorry You’re Not Hamilton,” “Randy Rainbow Interviews Donald Trump” and “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?” Also to be presented with an award for the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence is Leigh Barrett. A special citation will be awarded to Robert J. Eagle, founder of Waltham’s Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, which is celebrating 50 years. Tickets are $35 at 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com

Angels in the attic

In 2016, the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton drew crowds when it showed a lovely and interesting series of seven Tiffany stained glass windows depicting angels that had been rescued from a barn. Now, the Worcester Art Museum dug through its own collection to feature two sets of memorial windows made by John La Farge and Louis Comfort Tiffany originally made for Boston’s Mount Vernon Congregational Church in 1989 and 1899. The windows were transferred to the art museum in 1975, where they had been relegated to storage for more than 40 years. In “Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge,” the carefully conserved windows will be shown alongside La Farge's experimental cloisonné glasswork in order to highlight the artists' design methods and aesthetic influences. June 30-April 21. http://www.worcesterart.org

Musical rubs the right way

“It’s a whole new world” since 1992 when the Disney movie “Aladdin” came out and I spent days sewing two “Jasmine” Halloween costumes (one turquoise, one pink) for two of my daughters. So I’m looking forward to seeing Jasmine and Aladdin with blue genie spar with the evil Jafar in this sparkling sequined musical at the Opera House. Brought to town by Broadway in Boston and featuring the songs from the film and new music by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, the show has fun paying tribute to all manner of historical events. At the Opera house July 5-Aug. 5. See the whole summer lineup of Broadway in Boston musicals that also includes “Motown the Musical” (June 12-17) and “The Book of Mormon” (Aug. 14-26) before “Hamilton rolls into town (Sept. 18-Nov. 18) at https://boston.broadway.com

Vietnam, revisited

Called “a catharsis as well as a coup de theatre” by the New York Times, Shirley Lauro’s “A Piece of My Heart” portrays six women who went to Vietnam and their experiences before, during and after their tours. As a child in the ‘60s, neighborhood boys played a lot of army in the backyard but I never heard much about the experiences of the women who were sent into the jungles: in this case, five nurses and a country-western singer who entertained the troops. Wellesley Repertory Theatre, under the direction of Nora Hussey, presents the 2006 play based on true stories at Wellesley College’s Ruth Nagle Jones Theatre May 31–June 24. http://www.wellesleyrepertorytheatre.org/a-piece-of-my-heart/

More than music

Boston Calling is hitting it out of the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston with Eminem (May 27), Jack White (May 26) and The Killers (May 25) headlining the music festival May 25-27. And actress Natalie Portman curates and hosts the Boston Calling Film Festival May 22-24 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge. The films she has chosen explore the theme of “The Female Gaze” from the perspectives of male and female directors. Sounds like there will be more food at the concert venue this year, too, with 150 menu items, celebrity chefs and “gourmet” vendors. Here’s hoping organizers have worked out some of the kinks to make it a smoother, more enjoyable experience for everybody this time around. http://bostoncalling.com/

Small space, big experience

The Center for Arts in Natick continues to bring in bigger name acts and next week is no different. On May 18 Jefferson Starship takes the stage. Though founder Paul Kantner died in 2016, the band now features David Freiberg (also a founder of San Francisco luminaries Quicksilver Messenger Service) and drummer Donny Baldwin, along with longtime members Chris Smith on keyboards and synth bass, Jude Gold on lead guitar and Cathy Richardson anchoring the female lead vocal spot made famous by the inimitable Grace Slick. natickarts.org

A real Russian connection

Fenway Studios artist Alexander Gassel uses egg tempera to paint original works based on biblical events. The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton will exhibit the contemporary paintings of the Russian-American artist and designer May 20-Jan. 6. Gassel’s surrealist works reflect his cultural heritage alongside his experience of life in America. An opening reception will be held May 19. http://www.museumofrussianicons.org

Love to love you, baby

Italian Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) was apparently much more than a legendary womanizer - he was a man-about-town who everybody knew and who knew everybody. “Casanova’s Europe: Art, Pleasure, and Power in the 18th Century,” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston July 8-Oct. 8 introduces us to his life through more than 275 paintings, sculptures, works on paper, decorative arts, furniture, costumes and musical instruments. The intelligent entrepreneur, translator, spy (1725–1798). Mfa.org

Feats of engineering

More than 30 architectural and design projects that work in harmony with nature to heal and restore ecosystems and make cities more resilient and sustainable will be showcased in an exhibition “NatureStructure” opening May 17-Sept. 23 at BSA space, 290 Congress St., Boston. The exhibit includes “Delfland Sand Motor,” a feat of engineering that uses coastal tides to distribute sand along the coast of the Netherlands to reverse erosion and protect against sea level rise. https://www.architects.org/bsaspace/exhibitions/naturestructure

I had the time of my life

Thirty years after we first spent a summer with Baby and Johnny at a family resort in the Catskills, “Dirty Dancing - the Classic Story on Stage” is still entertaining audiences with their love story. June 13-17, at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre, step back into 1963 when racy dance tunes and wearing blue jeans were taboo. Leading a company of 24 are Aaron Patrick Craven as Johnny Castle and Kaleigh Courts as Francis “Baby” Houseman. http://www.bochcenter.org/

Comedy as a cure

Comedian Amy Tee uses comedy to promote mental health wellness. On May 16, Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham will present her show, “I’m Crazy, Not Stupid,” to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month. The comedian and motivational speaker brings her boyish charm and dry wit to her one-woman show that details her experiences with alcoholism, bipolar disorder and an often-bumpy road to recovery. A portion of ticket sales benefits the National Alliance on Mental Illness. http://amazingthings.org